Ali II Zainami

Ali II Zainami
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign16th century (1–5 years)
c. 1544–1545
PredecessorMuhammad VI Aminami
SuccessorDunama VI Muhammad
Diedc. 1545
Zamtam, Bornu
SpouseAmsa Aliram
IssueAissa Koli (?)
Idris IV Alooma
DynastySayfawa dynasty
FatherIdris III Katagarmabe
MotherZainab

Ali II (ʿAlī bin Idrīs), called Ali Zainami, was briefly mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-16th century, ruling approximately 1544–1545.

Life

Ali was a son of mai Idris III Katagarmabe. His mother was named Zainab. Ali became mai in the mid-16th century, succeeding his brother Muhammad VI Aminami. Ali was remembered as a just ruler, who kept the Bilala, vassal rulers of Kanem, in strict subjection to the empire.

Ali had a short reign, described by the German explorer Heinrich Barth (who visited Bornu in the mid-19th century) as "too short to be of any real importance". He may have ruled for just a year, or perhaps for about five years. Ali died at a site in Bornu called Zamtam and was succeeded as mai by Dunama VI Muhammad, probably his nephew. Ali is known to have had a consort named Amsa Aliram, who was the mother of Ali's son Idris IV Alooma.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Most king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Ali a reign of just one year (Barth, Palmer, Nachtigal). Landeroin gives Ali a reign of 5 years and 5 months. Urvoy gives 4 years. As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1545 (Barth), 1545–1546 (Palmer), 1544–1548 (Urvoy), 1538–1543 (Landeroin), and 1562–1563 (Nachtigal). Cohen (1966) considered a reign of a year most likely. Later authors have broadly followed Barth and Palmer with regnal dates; 1545–1546 (Stewart, 1989), 1544–1546 (Bosworth, 2012).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
  2. 1 2 Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. p. 35.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 59, 64, 81–82.
  4. ↑ Urvoy, Yves (1941). "Chronologie du Bornou". Journal des Africanistes (in French). 11 (1): 21–32. doi:10.3406/jafr.1941.2500.
  5. 1 2 3 Barth, Heinrich (1857). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855. Longmans. p. 649.
  6. ↑ Ikara, Bashir; Ajayi, J. F. Ade (Jacob Festus Ade); Kaduna State (Nigeria). Council forArts and Culture (1985). Evolution of political culture in Nigeria : proceedings of a national seminar organized by the Kaduna State Council for Arts and Culture. Internet Archive. Ibadan : University Press and Kadana State Council for Arts and Culture. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-19-575865-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)